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Weeknight Kitchen, Y'all (Improvised)

Posted at 7:20 PM on October 26, 2008 by Donna McClurkan (4 Comments)

When the October 15 edition of Weeknight Kitchen landed in my inbox with two recipes - one for soup and one for bread - from Bon Appetit, Y'all: Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern Cooking, I knew right away both would be perfect to try out on my inlaws, Milton and Ellen, visiting from Tennessee. Their trip coincided with a cool, colorful Michigan fall weekend and an informal birthday celebration for Anna, now 12.

Our new way of eating involves a completely different approach to recipe selection. Rather than choosing a recipe and then shopping for the ingredients, I now seek out seasonal recipes and use whatever is on hand whenever possible. This often requires some creative substitutions.

The Winter Squash Soup with Sauteed Apples was so easy. A large butternut squash and a just-from-the-vine pie pumpkin (sweeter and smaller than carving pumpkins) were on hand, thank-you gifts from a friend in exchange for some gardening work. A quick trip to my backyard yielded the requisite sprigs of thyme (an excellent ground cover, by the way). Carrots and parsley sprigs from a local organic garden were in the fridge and a small onion stood in for the shallot. The thick layer of cream that floated to the top of our raw milk share from a local dairy provided the (optional) heavy cream called for in the recipe.

Apples are a significant part of Michigan's agricultural /agritourism economy, and many varieties are grown within 100 miles of our home. I was pretty sure Granny Smith apples wouldn't be available locally, though, and a quick trip to the Kalamazoo Farmers' Market to chat with Sandy Newport of Greenside Farm confirmed this. She recommended a variety called Northern Spy ...

... which turned out to be a perfect substitute for the tart, green, suitable-for-baking Grannies. "The Northern Spies don't ship well, so you probably won't find them in the supermarket," Sandy said. "And they're pretty darn ugly," which I took to mean they'd most likely be passed over anyway.

The Stout Batter Bread, proved to be a great project for a pre-teen and her Grandma Darlin' (aka Ellen). They crafted this recipe into 14 perfect muffins using local, organic pastry wheat flour from Archie and Mattie, our favorite source for grain and flour. Bell's Brewery, Inc. Kalamazoo's microbrewery (founded in 1983), has several varieties of beer that would be great local substitutes for Guinness. I'm thinking Kalamazoo Stout or, maybe Hell Hath No Fury ... Ale next time.

As Lynne writes in her recipe introduction, "Imagine this: the scent of baking bread, simmering soup, and sauteing apples."

Ahhh ...

Weeknight Kitchen recipes for a cool autumn weekend: a little of the north, a little of the south and a lot of comfort!

Comments (4)

Hi everyone,

I love this whole story and wish to know how I can move into Donna's and Anna's household? My mouth was watering while I read this. Good job Donna and Anna and Ellen.

Veronica Caley (aka Donna's mom and Anna's grandma Ellen's friend.

Posted by Veronica Caley | October 29, 2008 8:40 AM

Hey mom - you KNOW we don't eat like this every night :). Anna loves cooking with her Grandma Nana, too. The pumpkin bread y'all baked together a few days ago was awesome - next time I hope I'm there to document (and smell) it!

Posted by Donna McClurkan | October 29, 2008 9:49 AM

Happy Birthday Anna!!
Cheers,
Autumn

Posted by Autumn Long | October 30, 2008 8:45 AM

Hi Autumn,

Hope you're doing well. Thanks for the birthday comment. So far I like being a tween!

Anna:)

Posted by Anna McClurkan | October 30, 2008 8:44 PM